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Alex Schieferdecker

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Everything posted by Alex Schieferdecker

  1. Alex Schieferdecker
    Jose Berrios pitching no-hit ball, then falling apart, then putting it back together again for two innings was one of the weirder Twins pitching performances I've seen in a while. But we've learned to expect that kind of one-inning meltdown from him. On the other hand, Taylor Rodgers letting the 6, 7, and 8 guys reach base, and the 9 guy to hit a grand slam, all in ten pitches, then to strike out the 1, 2, and 3 guys... that was the most confounding pitching performance I think I've ever seen.
  2. Alex Schieferdecker
    I asked Aaron Gleeman about this on Twitter a week ago and he pointed out to me that Hamilton was averaging almost a walk an inning. Since that conversation, he's thrown four and a third walkless innings, so if he keeps that up, a promotion will follow quickly.
  3. Alex Schieferdecker
    The Twins must truly be cursed to have their breakout pitching prospect hit with a line drive on his second AAA start. Hopefully it is as minor as we've been led to believe. Worth mentioning that of Winder's three runs allowed in AAA so far, two of them didn't score on his watch, but were thanks to the relief pitching that followed him.
  4. Alex Schieferdecker
    It's a good top five, but I'm not sure if Canterino and Duran will end up as starters, and their injury concerns are a big worry. Then again, it wouldn't be the end of the world if the Twins end up with those two coming out of the bullpen and the likes of Balazovic and Winder starting games.
  5. Alex Schieferdecker
    We should expect big "jumps" in the rankings this year, given how last year was completely lost and so nobody had much to go on. We heard a bunch about Winder being the Instructional League ace and Twins scouts have reportedly talked up Miranda forever, but it wasn't possible to determine how much substance there was. Now that play has started and we can make major corrections. Winder does seem a bit low to me still. Canterino, Duran, Balazovic, Miranda, and Lewis are a compelling top five, but Winder might be ahead of Canterino at this point, due to concerns about the latter's health and questions about whether he is destined to ultimately be a (high leverage elite) reliever. In contrast, Winder seems like he could be a 2-3 starter, still with a hint of upside beyond that.
  6. Alex Schieferdecker
    I've been surprised that he hasn't been vacuumed up to St. Paul yet. 3BB/9 isn't great, but it's well below what Robles, Duffey, and Colome have been "achieving" this year. Obviously the higher he goes, the more likely that rate is to climb. But he's at least got to be worth a look at AAA.
  7. Alex Schieferdecker
    Varland will need to start getting promoted soon if he is going to have a shot at making the majors in his career. But his results in Low A have been lights out, if memory serves, he's had just a single poor outing. Hopefully he will be bumped up shortly now that his walks have decreased. He may ultimately end up as a hard-throwing bullpen option as well.
  8. Alex Schieferdecker
    No patience for these tough guys who were cheating and don't like being called out for it.
  9. Alex Schieferdecker
    Glad to see Winder and Miranda moved up. Funny to me that Jovani Moran remains at AA. Speaking of the bullpen, surely Ian Hamilton will be the next guy called up to the Twins. Andrew Vasquez may deserve another shot, even though he's a lefty and even though his last outing was one of the worst in Twins history.
  10. Alex Schieferdecker
    No MLB front office is ever going to have a perfect record with these kinds of things. I'm open to the idea that the Twins have more misses than most, but I haven't seen any actual evidence to that effect, three examples of misses doesn't prove anything. I'm open to the idea that these were mistakes when the Twins made them, but I don't see a lot of evidence of that either. Hindsight is 20/20, were people castigating the Twins for leaving Badoo unprotected at the time? For trading Wade?
  11. Alex Schieferdecker
    The best starting pitching prospect still standing in the Twins organization is Josh Winder. If the team moves Pineda, they should certainly give Barnes a look because he's been pitching well in AAA, but Winder ought to be right behind him after what he's done in AA this year. In terms of relievers, Ian Hamilton, Danny Coulombe, or Yennier Cano from AAA will merit looks, as will Jovani Moran from AA.
  12. Alex Schieferdecker
    I mean, this is a team that was projected to get 90+ wins, and that's because largely this same group of players was a 100 win team in 2019 and (on pace) 2020. Now, a number of players have underperformed, but they've also gotten extremely unlucky, not just with injuries, but with terrible pitching, hitting, and fielding in the highest leverage spots. Maybe some of that is the guys just not having the right makeup to perform, but a lot of that is luck that will, over the longer run, even out. Even if you downgrade your projections because of the poor performance of some of these guys, you've still got like, an 80 win team. So if their performance picks up and they play at a .500+ level the rest of the season, that shouldn't be a surprise, even if it results in a pretty poor record overall.
  13. Alex Schieferdecker
    I guess I'm a bit surprised at the lack of pitcher promotions so far. I know 2021 is a weird year, but I thought it might be a weird year in terms of players moving up more quickly, and we haven't seen that. Feels like Winder and Moran in AA and Varland in Low A, at minimum, have made more than enough of an impression to get bumped up to the next level.
  14. Alex Schieferdecker
    It's plain to everyone that the team struck out with veteran pick-ups. Happ, Shoemaker, and Colome all had solid pedigrees, but have fallen off a cliff this year. It seems incredibly unlucky for that to happen to all three guys you picked up, but hey, that's baseball. What really makes no sense to me however is how other guys have collapsed. Maeda has struggled mightily which has been surprising to see for someone who is so methodical. Duffey has seemed to lose some velocity and the control of his curveball. Stashak has been utterly hammered. Only Alcala, Berrios, and Rogers look like themselves and not weird knockoff versions of themselves. I don't know what to make of it. How can so many previously competent players all struggle all at once? Take one or two players out of context and you can justify it, age, injuries, regression, etc. But the struggles of so many different pitchers simultaneously is just baffling to me.
  15. Alex Schieferdecker
    Obviously the experiences of Fernando Romero or Jose Berrios will caution anyone that a pitcher's first handful of starts are not their destiny, in either direction. That said, Ober does things that seems sustainable, chief among them throwing strikes with multiple pitches. His performance so far has been a similar to his performance in the minors, with the main difference being an increase in speed, which he's maintained so far. With his advanced release point, 92-93 is going to look like 95-96 to hitters, and he's show the ability to consistently throw it at the top of the zone. I wouldn't necessarily chalk him down as a future ace, but there's no reason why he can't be a 3-5 starter for the Twins for a while. I have no problem with Rocco taking him out after the fourth. Getting the bullpen some low-leverage work before an off day makes sense. Keeping Ober's pitch count down also makes sense. He's never even come close to a major league starter's workload and there's no sense in pushing him in this lost season. Let him build up his confidence and build up his stamina.
  16. Alex Schieferdecker
    Varland must be close to trip to Iowa. He's had one bad outing, otherwise he's been brilliant.
  17. Alex Schieferdecker
    I would love to never have to watch another JA Happ start or Matt Shoemaker relief appearance again. Welcome to the club Bailey Ober. Come have a cup of coffee Charlie Barnes. Welcome to AAA Josh Winder, please don't stay long.
  18. Alex Schieferdecker
    It's good to see Winder finish strong. That's been the only issue he's had this year, as he hits the third time through the order he has gotten hit a bit too much. With Winder, Moran, and Cano, I'm not sure how much more the Twins are waiting to see at AA. All three have clearly earned a spot up in St. Paul. Let's see what they can do with the Saints.
  19. Alex Schieferdecker
    Part of what has been so frustrating this year has been that things have repeatedly gone wrong at exactly the wrong moment, and conversely have gone right at exactly the right moment. A guy will get up to the plate with the bases loaded and strike out, only to step up to the plate and homer later in the game. A pitcher will be excellent when it doesn't matter and collapse when it does. Maybe some of that is players not having that added gear for big moments, and some of that is just injuries to key players, but there's an element of it which can only be described as an incredible amount of bad luck.
  20. Alex Schieferdecker
    The silver lining to this miserable season has been the encouraging pitching performances in the minors. Let's start seeing some promotions!
  21. Alex Schieferdecker
    I think some grace is warranted regarding the bullpen. As this article points out, none of the guys who left the Twins have subsequently made them look foolish. Finding consistent relief pitching is just about the hardest task in baseball, and the Twins signed a guy who was one of the few with such a track record, only for him to completely implode.
  22. Alex Schieferdecker
    The elbow injuries to Canterino and Enlow have been the most discouraging parts of what's overall seemed like a strong year so far for Twins pitching prospects. Josh Winder has come back to earth a bit recently, but still looks strong, and I've got to imagine that it's only a matter of time before he gets bumped up to St. Paul. Balazovic seemed to pitch well in his AA debut, and obviously Duran is on track for a late summer promotion to the Twins. Ober also looks like someone who might grow into a back-end role, and that might come sooner rather than later if Shoemaker continues to bomb. Speaking of promotions, it's well past time that some of Wichita's bullpen start moving up to St. Paul. Given the need for better relievers with the Twins, I'd hope that at least Cano and Moran, but also possibly Mason and Phillips, would get an opportunity with the Saints sooner rather than later.
  23. Alex Schieferdecker
    What's the part of Canterino's delivery that's actually the injury risk?
  24. Alex Schieferdecker
    The days of the Twins needing to sign a couple older guys as patches for the back end of the rotation may soon be over. If he stays healthy, Duran looks close to challenging for a 1-3 spot in the rotation, and Dobnak and Ober may be ready to challenge for the 4-5 spots.
  25. Alex Schieferdecker
    The stellar performance of just about every Twins pitching prospect so far is really one of the most hopeful trends so far. Ober, Vallimont, Canterino, and Enlow (unfortunately now hurt) all have ERAs below 2. Winder and Funderburk have ERAs below 1. Think we may see some promotions sooner rather than later, especially for the latter two.
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